The Lamb, the Coin, and the Prodigal

June 7, 2026 park service.  

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Okay. Um so in Luke 15 we we see the parable of the lost sheep. Okay. And the in all of chapter 15 it really goes together. Okay. And and that that's that's what hopefully you you'll hear today that that I I discovered this week. Okay. And it says tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. So right now Jesus realizes he's got two types of people in the crowd, both lost. Okay, some think they're found. And you know, here's kind of a good test. If you think you're found, if you think you're saved, and you you look out and you go, Well, I can't believe Zach's here, you know, like what's he doing here, you know? And so if you ever like look down on somebody that um, you know, is just is just in church, if you think you're better than anybody, this story's for you. You're in this story that's come up. And then there's tax collectors and sinners. Tax collectors were hated because they were seen as like uh um betrayers of Israel because they would go around and find people from Israel that would that were willing to collect taxes from their own people, and everybody knew that they collected what they wrote um that they owed Rome and then collected a little more on top of that for themselves, and this is how they became rich. So they were hated and despised, but they're coming to see Jesus because maybe there's hope for us. So this is for the overly arrogant Christian that thinks he's right with God but looks down on people, and this is for the completely lost person who believes they're completely hopeless and God could never save them. They're coming to Jesus, coming to the right place. And here is what he tells them. This is the teaching that he gives this group of people. Jesus told them this parable. Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent. Okay. So there is a group of people that are righteous and they don't need to repent, they're walking in God's ways, okay? But there's always a sheep wandering off, and that's why I told you what I told you before I played that song is I was out in the world wondering how I could possibly call myself a Christian and live the way that I was living. Okay, I was lost, and that day I got that letter in the mail. I felt like that right there, that Jesus, the good shepherd, came and he picked me up on his shoulder and he brought me back to the house of God. That is one thing, one way that God leads us. I think it's so important why we employ why we talk about God outside of church. Of course, that's what the devil and what evil wants is for us to just contain it right here and never take it out in the world. Because you never know, just one God conversation could be that right there. That's when Jesus, the Holy Spirit, whatever, says, you know what, I need to get back in the house of God. I need to get back in the Word of God, and that is one way that He leads people back to Himself. Now, here's part two: the parable of the lost coin. Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house, search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me. I have found my lost coin. In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Now, this is a different little case here because it's a woman, I think, that represents the church, okay? And there's a lost coin inside of her house, right? So there are people that go to church every Sunday, and I remember feeling like this. I remember being in church every Sunday and wondering why I don't feel what other people feel. I felt lost inside the house. Now, this is not a bad place to be lost if you have the church doing what the woman is doing. Are they lighting a light? Are they worshiping with all their hearts? Is the pastor digging in the word? And is he on his knees praying for God to speak to people who need to be filled inside of church? As long as the church is doing what they need to be doing. It's the perfect place for a lost coin, a lost, a person who feels lost, they're in the house of God. It's the perfect place as they sweep through the Bible and sweep out sin and sweep out and convict hearts and do all that as the church does that. It's it's a beautiful thing. And I hope that's what I'm doing right here today. And here's why this resonated with me is because after I got brought home, I did get filled up with the Spirit of God, I did live right for a little while. Okay, and then this thing happened. I used to play in this little band, and they as soon as I left, I mean I didn't really think about them for a couple years, but they got pretty successful. They got like, I would call it like local success. If they ever played locally, big crowds would go and watch them. And I got a little bit envious. I got a little bit to thinking like maybe I got ripped off by giving my life to God, you know, and I just I was just open and honest with them, you know, and I'm like, I don't want to feel like this, okay? Well, about that time I realized that my favorite pastor that I love to listen to, Jensen Franklin from Gainesville, Georgia, I still listen to him all the time. He he's my favorite preacher, but back then, you know, he was like the guy that I listened to, and I mean was really like a spiritual uh guide. So I told my wife, I said, listen, we gotta go see this like in person, okay? And so we drove an hour and a half, you know, down there. And guys, when I walked in the door, I mean, all I can say is I was fighting back tears. I was feeling the spirit of God. Like, I mean, if I thought I felt it when I heard here I am, it was 10x that easy. And I was just like shaking hands, trying to get to my seat, and those lights went off, and I was like so thankful because I felt like you know I could start to let go. Um, but then about two songs into it, they played this song that goes, Um, when I think about the Lord, how he saved me, how he raised me, how he filled me with the Holy Ghost, how he healed me to the uttermost. When I think about the Lord, how he picked me up and turned me around, how he placed my feet on solid ground, it makes me wanna shout, Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus, Lord, you're worthy of all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. I have no idea what it was, but I broke down crying. I heard the Spirit of God in my heart just say, Adam, I never rip anybody off. Don't you think that for a minute that forsaking this world and following me is a ripoff? Don't you ever believe that again in your life? And it was just right where I needed to be at the right time. I was already in the house, but I went somewhere where they shined to their light, and I went somewhere where they worshiped with all of their hearts, mind, soul, and strength. And it was what I needed to be that little lost coin that was found. Okay. So one way is out in the world, the Holy Spirit just gives you a sign, do something for you where you say, That's God, I'm going back home. And then maybe you just feel helpless in church, maybe you just feel hopeless, and that happens. You're inside. That's the church lighting, being the light that we're supposed to be. Okay. And then there's one more. This one's the one that everybody is the most familiar with. Jesus continued, There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, Father, give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together, all he had, set off for a distant country, and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he spent everything, there was a severe famine in the whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, How many of my father's hired men have food to spare? And here I am starving to death. I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired men. So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to the servants, Quick, bring the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his finger, and sandals on his feet, bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate. And we're going to pause right there. Um because the son was lost. He had been brought. I mean, he was in the family, he was in the house. You know, he had access to the first two things that we talked about, but he chose to wander off. I want what I want now. And it isn't it amazing in this world that you know, like kids want to be adults so much sooner, you know. I I want to do these adult activities, even if it's just like something like smoking or something like that, you know, like, well, you know, well, it's not illegal. I'm like, well, it is for you. You're not old enough to buy them, you know. And you want these, you know, you want this. So you're willfully doing things that you know go against the Father. Okay. So you're only out of fellowship because of your own choices. Okay. And I have I have been here. I had to forsake some sins in my life, and I want you to notice. In the first one, you got Jesus coming after you, you got the Holy Spirit coming after you. In the second one, you've got the confines of the church. But in this one, you chose to walk away, and you don't have access to any one of those. And I also want you to notice the Father is not getting up and going out there and begging them to come home. He is not doing that. The son knows what he needs to do. I need to apologize, and I need to say I'm sorry, and I need to walk away from what I'm doing. As soon as he did, what happened? You know, he didn't come home to somebody that would have been like me. Oh, now you come home, you know? I don't think so. You squander my money, you take like, guys, if he wanted to go off, he could have. But what did the father do? Man, you come on. Let's have a feast. You let's here's my best robe. When you walk back into town with me because I came out to meet you, you're not gonna look like you've been out in the world. You're not gonna look like sin has just crushed you. You're gonna look like my son. And guys, that's what he does for us. When you ask the Lord to forgive you, or when you ask to come home, man, he clothes you in righteousness, he covers all that sin, all that stuff up. It is amazing. You can imagine just hearing that, how much these sinners, these tax collectors, I don't know when he said that, but maybe Matthew heard that. And when Jesus walked by, and Jesus says, Hey Matthew, why don't you come follow me? He said, All right, let's go. I'll leave all this behind. I don't mind a bit because I can come home to the Father. You're making a way, that's amazing. But there's still one more group he's got to address. The older brother became angry. Can you imagine sitting in church and somebody that everybody in the world knew that was lost? I mean, worldly messed, I mean, just mess people up, betrayed people, stole from people, and they come to the Lord. They go down to the altar. And any of us going, well, we'll see how long this lasts. Well, we'll see. Yeah, yeah, right. You know, can't we just say, Lord, you bless them? If they're coming to you, you do for them what you did for me. You pick me up, you turn me around, you place my feet on solid ground. There's nobody like you. I pray for them. Do the same thing for them. That's what we're supposed to have. But this guy becomes angry, and he says, So his father, now, this is what's beautiful. In the house, if you have that attitude, his father came to him. This guy with a horrible attitude is in the house. So he's more like the lost coin, right? He's in the house, and the father goes to him. He says, Um, his father went out and he even pleaded with him, but he answered, Look, all these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. You never even gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the cat fattened calf for him. Exclamation point. So he said, You killed the fattened calf for him. Okay, I mean, and look at he says, Look, all these years I've been slaving for you. Could you I I couldn't even imagine, guys, if I came up here with the attitude of, okay, God, I gotta go talk to the people at the park, you know. Like, I'm slaving for you, and I don't feel like you're doing anything for me in return. I mean, that's basically the attitude. But guys, this is my joy to come up here. Like, the moment this entire message flooded my mind, I was just in awe. I was like, thank you. This is, I mean, and guys, I knew everything in an instant, except to mark the page when I started. I marked the wrong one, okay? But I knew everything I was gonna say. And look, God didn't say, You ain't gonna talk to me like that. How dare you? You know, look what he says. He says, My son, you're my kid, right? You are always with me. I'm right here. How sad would it be to be in God's house and his presence be so available if you just participate in worship, if you just participate in prayer, if you just participate in the Lord's supper, if you just participate in the thing, he's right there, he's always with you. And look, he says, everything I have is yours. Everything you want a party, dude? Go kill one. That same fattened calf. You know, you could have had that one, and he would have got the next fattest one. Because you could have had it. Everything I have is yours. You can celebrate, you got access to everything. We had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead, he's alive again, he was lost and is found. I mean, think about that, guys, and just how that had to have affected the entire crowd. I mean, these sinners knew that they just needed to turn away from their sin and go home. They just needed to be the lost sheep. Hopefully, they were some of them were like me. It said, Man, Jesus just picked me up and brought me home. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. And there were probably some that had been going to church every week, week after week after week after week. And they said, Man, this is what I needed to hear. I'm I'm that lost coin in the house. And I'm so thankful I heard this. I so I'm so thankful I was here today. Lord, I'm back home. Guys, we can be back into perfect access with the Father in just a moment. In just a moment. It's amazing how how good he is. And with the lost son, there were people there thinking there's no way God could ever save me. But they listen to that story and say, that guy completely, um, man, I don't I'm trying to think of a word I can use, but that guy completely screwed over his father, and he still let him come home. I mean, this had to give hope to the person that thought, there's no way God can save me. Jesus just told me I can be saved. And then there's Pharisees that probably maybe either they got mad and said, Oh, he's talking about us because we're mummering about these people. But maybe a few of them said, you know what? Thank God God made a way. I am so thankful that He's He's telling us that He's made a way. So, Lord, change those people because people have to really decide what they want with bad people. Now, the Bible says there's no one good. So all of us have sinned, all of us has fallen away. But people have to decide with the with the people that they think are so bad and so destructive to this to society. I ask them, what do you want? Would you rather them right now be struck dead and sent to hell forever? Forever. We have no idea the concept of eternity forever. Or would you rather God touch their heart and start growing in them and them grow into a new life where they're out there telling people, I used to be where you are. This is how God saved me. Guys, that's what we want. We want to grow this kingdom. And in those parables, he told us everything we needed to know.